[MUD-Dev] Simulated Populations

[Dundee]

"phlUID" <phluid at mindless.com> wrote:

> 1. We could just throw out the whole path finding thing and make mobs
>    wander aimlessly.=20
> I believe that it is also possible to combine any number of these
> elements together into one system.

I think I might like to look at the way ants create trails by wandering
aimlessly, marking/refreshing their path and following other ants' paths.
Been a while since I read anything about it, but as I recall, it wasn't
really a very complicated system.

Could be slow going from "completely random 'path'" to "straight trail =
from
point a to point b", but it seems like you could start out with npcs
wandering randomly (rather, "scouting"), but eventually have pretty
well-defined paths and trails, created by the npcs.  You could even make =
the
paths more or less visible to the players, depending on traffic, or
block/disrupt the trails and let the npcs build new ones around whatever =
the
problem is.  Or maybe the players could scout a new trail for the npcs.  =
Or
if pcs start killing orcs in an orc path, maybe that would count as an
obstruction and the orcs would eventually develop a new path around them
(unless the first response to an obstruction is to send bigger troops).

Interesting possibilities anyway, if you've really got a lot of npcs
migrating about.

--=20
http://dundee.uong.com/



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